What movies do you have where the negative reviews you read about them turned out to be wrong in your opinion after watching it?

I’m having trouble thinking of any recent movies at the moment, but I do remember hearing about A Christmas Story receiving bad reviews when it first came out. What a Christmas classic it is now! It’s one of my favorite movies.

edit: just thought of one. I’ve put off watching Apocalypto because I heard it was terrible. I just watched it last night and I really didn’t mind it. I kind of liked it. It was one of those movies that sticks in my mind long after I watch it. <waiting for rotten tomato throwing>

The Invisible. I’m not exactly sure why I saw it. The trailer made it look like some dime a dozen paranormal thriller type thing. It’s about as far from that as can be. It’s an immaculately shot drama that uses the idea of a ghost trapped on earth to look at what it is to be alive. The key thing being that a ghost doesn’t have any influence in the world. Nothing the ghost does sticks, all he can do is watch. There’s a brilliant scene where the ghost takes a shotgun off the wall, the camera follows him as he walks into a room and out of sight and you hear the gun go off. Then he reemerges from the room and walks past the gun, stilling hanging on the wall. There’s no cutting.

I’m convinced all the negativity is from people that feel cheated that they went out to see a supernatural mystery and got a different sort of movie instead. Dishonest marketing, I blame you.

The Postman. Book by David Brin, movie starred Kevin Costner.

Movie was panned by the critics,but was actually pretty good and cleaned up plot holes that Brin hadn’t resolved.

The Rocketeer and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen were both panned by the critics, and I they are two of my favorite films.
Most critcs are idiots who mistake their “inside Hollywood” knowledge for taste.
A good way to weed out bad reviewers is to dismiss anyone who rates movies using a number of hats, dogs, bags of popcorn, or other props, or anyone who works for a radio station or Playboy.

Last Action Hero.
Now, had you asked about positive reviews that turned out to be wrong, the list is a lot longer. It contains such turds like James Cameron’s “Avatar”, Star Trek 11, Indiana Jones 4, and the Star Wars Prequels.

@ragingloli Good point. I would deviate however when it comes to the latest Star Trek. The science there stinks, yes, but I fell in love with the new cast right away and it left me wanting for more space action and interaction between the characters. Does that make me a bad trekkie? Lol.

@filmfann Same here. I love the Rocketeer and the Baron. The Rocketeer was an old fashioned movie done in the grandest of ways, plus there was Jennifer Connely before her breast reduction. Lol.

@fundevogel I think Im gonna see that movie now. : )

@elbanditoroso It sure was a noble attempt of Kevin Costner in making such a substantial film. He tried to go for another epic there but sadly failed at the box office. Wrong timing I guess?

From what I remember, I think Mr. Brooks was a film that was rated poorly/mediocre but when I saw it I was impressed and thoroughly loved it. Also (how isn’t this one brought up yet?), Donnie Darko.

@filmfann At this point I just hit up What the Flick?! for film reviews. I like the reviewers on the show, but I think what really makes it work is they almost always do their reviews collaboratively so the reviewers discuss what they thought of a movie, why and sometimes sway one another’s opinions. The key is you aren’t just getting one person’s authoritative opinion, you’re witnessing a discussion. Whether or not I agree with their appraisal the show does an excellent job of helping me figure out if I’m interested in seeing the movie in question.

you should watch these reviewers

The Happening Though It’s not the greatest movie, I still enjoyed it. As well as a bunch of others that I don’t remember their names….

@mazinger, my recollection about Costner and the Postman was that had been in a bunch of movies that year or so, and people were tired of seeing him. It could have been any movie – but too much Costner turned people off.

Every single movie I’ve ever read a negative review for. Of course, I’m an optimist, I have a knack for suspension of disbelief and the ability to get into the essence of a movie without getting hung up on the details.